1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed subject matter relates to ballistic protection for military personnel. More particularly, the disclosed subject matter relates to a body armor made of integrated, multi-functional components designed to reduce the overall weight while increasing agility and durability; and to a flexible, multi-functional, multi-ply material mix capable of providing ballistic protection.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Current soldier body armors are made of multiple layers of ballistic fabric, such as KEVLAR® brand fabric, that protect the torso from pistol shots. The addition of ceramic ballistic plates into pockets in the soft armor front, back and sides provides protection to the torso from high velocity rifle ammunition. However, such body armor may be unavoidably cumbersome, weighing up to 30 lbs when fully fitted with the ballistic plates. Adding batteries, cabling', radios, computers, GPS, and sundry other electronic devices to such a soldier system would add a further weight burden and may add to the cumbersome nature of a soldier's equipage.